Botanical Gardens
by Mewdu
Summary: It's surprising what one year could change. From winter to spring, anything and everything will turn upside down. Old faces, same words. This is the story of eight villagers thinly connected, until one girl sets the pace for a story they never expected.
1. Chapter 1

**NOTE: This occurs in Magical Melody**

**I'm taking the plunge posting this story in a foreign archive. I pray you don't drown. **

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Chapter One

Emile

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Basil never drank. Maybe it was because he'd always been aware of the properties that made a drink so oddly appealing to anyone else. The one he had ordered was titled Midnight Ambrosia, colored nearly black accordingly with special dye from a some other foliage he cared not to name, the particularly nasty side effect a twenty-four-hour headache.

Being a botanist could really nag in the fun department that way.

"Thanks," he mumbled to Duke, touching his fingers tips to the yellow glass tensilely and only wrinkling his nose with Duke's back to him. He resisted the soundless gag in his throat as he pulled the glass closer. An ignorant thought, most likely, but he still had to wonder how this drink was the most popular when smelling to the equivalent of a long whiff of rubbing alcohol.

His fingers tightened around the cool drink in retaliation. His title as "Botanist" had pulled him no nearer to any happiness, and botanists didn't drink. Basil closed his eyes and gently let the liquid touch just the tip of his tongue. Basil nearly spit. The touch was like an inferno as it slipped rustily along his throat and curled uneasily in the pit of his stomach, setting there comfortably and taunting him just on how much of a mistake he'd made.

Basil rubbed at his watery eyes and took a long swig the second time with a gritted determination. It still burned, but went down a smoother ride then the first. Though the smell still made him want to retch.

"I'll have a blue moon for myself, please." Basil watched the man next to him under the brim of his hat. He had a tan and an easy smile, one arm playfully wrapped around a blond haired girl giggling and whispering next to him. He slid a bill across the counter in one easy fluid motion. "And one here for the lady as well, Duke."

Basil looked away in embarrassment when the girl pressed herself nearer to the boy in the red headband. Their whispers were irritatingly loud at first, but fell to a serene thrum as the night stretched on into clatters of chairs and burly laughter. Basil's chin was lazily positioned on the counter as he numbly counted the glasses in front of him, the wines and juices behind the bar appearing in broken crystal hexagons. Basil narrowed his eyes at the empty collection, sure he hadn't had more than two. There were maybe five now...seven...Basil slumped his face flat. Counting was so stupid. Why did it even exist? Weren't laws passed to prevent his brain from hurting so much?

Duke was swimming in his hazy vision, stone faced while he polished a wine glass. Basil felt his buzzing lips twist into an easy smile. "Hey, Duke, anotherrr...if you don' mind."

"He's had enough. Put it on my tab, Duke."

Duke nodded solemnly. Basil tried to grab for his sleeve, he'd only had two after all, but was hoisted up roughly by the collar off of his stool. "Hey," he protested into the stern expression of Blue. Then Basil noticed that Blue wasn't wearing the usual blue hat, and his anger slipped against his curiosity as he observed the rare reveal of his blond hair. His nose wrinkled in thought. "You look different, Blue. Did you geta' haircut?"

Blue didn't answer and turned away to say something to Duke, mumbling too low for Basil to catch. Not caring whether or not he was paid any attention, Basil focused on the small thread loose just at the shoulder seam of Blue's plaid button down. Basil blinked away the water in his eyes and swerved in his concentration. Blue reflexively grasped his forearm when he nearly toppled across the counter.

Nearer at his side, Basil "hmphed," frustrated with the fact that Blue had interrupted him with no assistance needed. When they were finally outside, the snow crunching beneath both pairs' feet, Basil grumbled under his frosted breath, "Only had two drinks."

"Seven," Blue calmly corrected. "You really should stop doing this."

Basil stopped, searching Blue's face through a half-lidded anger. He squinted at the dark shadows curved along his cheeks and eyes. "Stop doing what? Eating a few drinks or two isn't bad." He threw down his hat, suddenly angry at Blue for not understanding. He stomped till the hat was flat and half-buried in the snow. "You don't _get _anywhere being a botanist who doesn't drink!"

"Basil." The snow sighed under Blue's foot as he stepped forward. Basil waved him back and shook his head.

"No, no, no..._You _stay back there. You'll catch my disease, then every girl you meet'll high tail it to the next guy." Basil threw out his arms for balance, not remembering walking being this tough before while Blue watched with his arms across his chest as Basil flew face first into the snow with a sharp yelp. Basil lifted his head and blinked away the cold crystals on his lashes.

"If only you'd remember this part," Blue mumbled next to Basil's head, hoisting him up by the elbow. Basil shakily regained his balance, and quirked a brow at Blue.

"What's that supposed t'mean?" He yawned and fell to the side, thumping against an irritated Blue.

Blue nudged him off and dusted the encrusted snow from the crevices of Basil's hat. But Basil had only fallen against his shoulder again, a light, breathy snore the second indication that he had gone into a drunken sleep. Blue nimbly placed the hat on top of Basil's sagging head and whistled clear and loud through the silent night. Within the minute of adjusting his own cloths and hair of powdery flakes, one of the ranches's horses, Rein, was at his side, nipping at Basil's red ears and snorting through his damp hair.

Blue guided Rein to circle around by his bridle, and hoisted Basil up so he sat in the front, his face turned to side onto Rein's pulsing neck. He clicked his tongue for Rein to walk when he was sure enough Basil wouldn't slip from his precarious position. He studied Basil's sleeping face, hallow and taunt in the light of the moon. How long had he done this? How many times would he allow himself to? Basil's drunken night binging trails had become such a repetitive cycle, that rounding him up seemed normal now, average to do.

_It has to change._

He swatted at Rein's tight flank. "Come on, boy."

Basil stirred at the quicker pace and blinked groggily with a haze over his opalescent eyes. He squinted when he saw Blue beside him, silent at the wind ripped at his collar and skin. His smile came quick, lazy as he appraised him through small slits. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're a great listener?"

"Just you."

Basil smiled in content peace as Blue mentally check listed in his head.

_1...2...3– _

Basil face paled and he twisted over in the saddle. Blue pulled at the bridle, closing his eyes against the sounds of gags and spits from a moaning Basil. Blue stood patiently by, leading a snorting Rein away when Basil fell into a quiet slumber. They made it to the ranch soon enough, the silence almost like a heavy stone dropping into a pond as he stepped quietly. He led Rein into his stall, throughly considering abandoning Basil to sleep in the barn for the rest of the night as he unhooked and hung up the saddle and bridle. But Ann would be mad, and questions would be frequent. Too bothersome, he quickly decided, kicking Basil's boot lightly.

He stirred with a snort and greeted him nonchalantly, his green eyes growing wide as he assessed his foreign surroundings and hopped up to his feet. The demands for answers came in a flurry of pain as he held his head and realization awakened his senses. But Blue did not scold. He offered a room with the calmest of tones, knowing Basil would only forget this lone night. And he stood in the barn, alone as dawn broke over the hills to greet the solitary figure of a man questioning where kindness would lead him. He tipped his hat over his face, and walked out into Basil's old tracks with a practiced ease in his gait.

_Something had to change._

**(^.^)**

Blue tried not to notice that he was alone. The frost was breathing down his neck and Hank had gone to town today, so he went solo on clearing the snow for signs of the ground softening. He rubbed at his trembling fingers and stuffed them into his pockets, looking up toward the front window, the slight whisper of the flowered curtains furthering his well past disintegrated mood.

Ellen was still upset, and Basil had left early in the morning.

He shook his head of the distractions and dug his numb fingers further into the drift.

"Are you trying to catch something?"

Instantly before he could reflexively turn, something soft whipped against his cheek. He picked up the black gloves from the ground, and threw a glance at Ann who was attempting to hoist herself over the fence, taking a moment to wave at him before toppling over ungracefully headfirst into the refrained from sighing as she picked up and dusted herself off, completely destroying the plot he'd already finished.

"Oh, darn it! And I was hoping to get here without ruining my pants." She smiled at him, her hair curled at her ears and face smudged obliviously with oil_. _"They're not anything grand, but Happy Birthday!"

His anger dissolved as she bounced up next to him, detailing every irrelevant to farming mechanical use for the black leather gloveswith lit eyes and a toothy smile. She slapped her palm over her mouth and grinned weakly between her fingers_. _"I'm talking too much. It's your birthday, and here I am chatting it away."

The silence stretched against the warmth he held. Blue looked at her then, her blue eyes, her wavering lips, and he ached to touch her hand. Something at least to bring her closer as she drifted further away. Ann's face softened as he stared past her shoulder, refusing her questions and hoping she didn't dare to ask. He should have known after so long.

"How is she?" she asked quietly.

He looked up at the house where the curtains stirred, open now as Ellen pinned them to hang at the upper corners. He watched her for a moment as she smiled to herself, imagining the hum in her voice as she lithely danced across the front hall, the hesitation hidden beneath her soft eyes for others to glance at and forget without a second thought.

"Not talking, as usual," he said without meeting her gaze. But he knew he didn't necessarily have to when Ann stood on the balls of her feet, hands secured at her hips as she awkwardly attempted to pin him down in a heated scrutiny below his field of vision.

"Have you talked to her?" she asked with the quirk of her blonde brow. Blue almost snorted. There was oil smudged there too. He bit his tongue and hung his head. Ann moved to stand in front of him, pulling at his coat. "Blue," she whispered. "Please..."

_Talk to me. _

He almost said it there. The words that had numbed his tongue for years nearly burst as Ann searched his face and held him close with her wide eyes, sorrowful for him and ready to cry. Blue turned from her, sickened with the thought that he felt no guilt of abandoning someone she thought dear to him when all he saw was a stranger who shared his blood.

"You don't understand," he said, and stepped away. The recoil in her touch felt like a slap, and the hurt in her eyes twisted his insides painfully tight.

"Okay," she said quietly, wringing her hands in and out. "It's okay. If you just want to–I mean it is your birthday..." She fell silent, and made a sound that shattered Blue's guilt. "You're a big dummy, you know that, Blue? A big, _stupid _dummy!"

Blue stood still even as her footsteps faded and Ellen stood beside him alone, her small hand at his shoulder, clutching against him trembling and shaky.

"She's gone."

**(^.^)**

It was cold quiet in the forest. Nothing moved to startle him, and not one footstep disturbed the flakes piled up to the middle of his calf. It was the cold quiet that caused him to detest the winter so much. There was too little nothing in the winter unlike the summer, or the spring, when trees and flowers popped from the ground, petals shining under the sun's crystal light.

_But now..._

Basil searched the white stretch of powdered forest with dull eyes. The ground was bare, the trees stripped, and the birds silent in their nests.

_Everything is dead._

He leaned on one knee, suddenly irritated at his father as he dug into the snow with bare fingers. Gloves just pushed any plants that he had little hope of finding further down, another _useless _tip his father would have just sighed at, phone in one hand, and coffee in the other.

"_Basil..."_

Maybe it would have been better if his father had said something. Anything instead of just stare at him, his thin lips like stone and his blue eyes like ice.

"But it doesn't matter now," Basil grunted, and patted the snow back into place.

He was alone, always had been and managed the solitude with a smile. Anything less, and he wouldn't have made it this far. Returning home would only allow him a silent relationship with bare walls and terse phone messages three months aged. He didn't need petty condolence, and no one in the village offered such annoying setbacks. Their ignorance allowed him so much freedom.

He was strong alone and it would remain that way.

Basil nodded to himself. "I don't need anyone," he said quietly, fingers tentatively gentle around a limp green bud. "You survived on your own, little guy. No help from the sun and you survived." Basil shoved back the snow around the small bud then slipped out his trowel. He dipped the point of the tool at the base of the plant and began to dig to its roots.

It took him nearly twenty minutes to carefully remove the plant from its secure position in the ground. If he had been paying even a slight attention to above, he might haven't even noticed the girl precariously positioned on the tree branch, leaning forward with eyes alight in curiosity. Basil never often took notice of his surroundings. But at the stark snap of an unnatural occurrence, his neck turned slow enough to miss the fear he should have embraced, but fast enough to see a young girl free falling straight toward him with his tiny bud curled in hand.

"_Basil..."_

**(^.^)**

Kurt didn't know how long he stared at the phone. But it had felt like an hour, the silence in the hall obscured by the water dripping from his hair and dotting the wood in dark pin points. He put his hand against the cool of the plastic covering, reassured neither Joe or Woody would be up to witness this. Him giving in.

Kurt took his hand from the phone again and stood stubborn.

_drip–drip–drip_

That couldn't be it. This wasn't a matter of win and loss, but simply him calling out of common courtesy. His fingers curled around the handle.

"_Please, Kurt. At least for yourself...Don't try to fix something that was never broken."_

"_Dammit_." He slammed the receiver down and walked down the hall, not caring that he could still hear the dial tone in the next room. The lights flickered dimly on when he hit the switch with the back of his hand, and he set at his stool, knuckles on his lips. It wasn't supposed to be so hard to call someone.

Then again, Dia had never made anything easy.

Three sharp knocks sliced the air, and Kurt watched the old wooden door bend underneath the fresh weight of someone's fist, tempted to let it be. But then they started to pound, and Kurt didn't feel particularly up to ignoring one of Joe's round about tantrums that involved a whole lot of lip and created an irritation of a setback. Woody, of course, through pay docking would gain revenge.

Kurt slid open the door, the wet towel around his neck settling goose bumps along his arms and legs as the winter breeze swept through the slit of escape he'd provided. Gina looked up at him, brown eyes agape under her bottlecap glasses. Kurt didn't bother to feel the offense of her assumption. Surprise on any villager's face was too common of an occurrence to take personally. Being a guy like him, a year away from here was like a death to numb ears.

You didn't exist.

"Oh...Kurt...I didn't know you were back. Just yesterday?" She smiled as if the world around her dissolved. Kurt didn't know why it irritated him so much. Smiling was something Gina had always done, and even had the right to retract in his presence considering the circumstances of their relationship.

He leaned against the doorframe and didn't return the smile. "Two weeks ago."

"Oh," she said. Her eyes darted from him, and she tugged on her braid. The nervous behavior set guilt on his mind like a slap. He was bordering the thin line between aloof and downright rude and it should have given him warning to apologize, or to at least ease off.

He didn't.

"I'll get Joe."

"Wait." The hand on his back disappeared instantly when he faced her again, the slight quirk of the brow the only indication that he was listening. "One of the villagers...Blue's cousin, Emile." She paused and looked up at him, then shook her head. "She arrived here yesterday, started coming down to the village for the winters last year. A nice girl," she praised quietly, as if to convince Kurt she was worthy of his fickle ears. "But Ellen couldn't find her this morning. So we're getting together a search party, anyone who can help, really. She usually doesn't get too far..."

"Usually?"

Gina stared at Kurt as if she were surprised he cared enough to consider her words. Kurt skirted the offense he should have felt as Gina nodded. "She wanders off sometimes, but she never gets past the woods." Gina didn't provide anything else, and Kurt made no offer to cure the silence between them. He had a feeling Gina wouldn't bring it up, her being the same motherly type who didn't push unless certain harm were to come to someone she cared for.

"I'll see if I can get Joe around," he said, a whisper of a smile on his lips. "But there's not much hope of that."

Gina's face broke into a smooth grin of her own. "Thank you, Kurt." She caught his eyes, and her smile fell just a little. "It really was nice to see you again." Kurt nodded his goodbyes and watched her back as the white coat she wore disappeared in the snow. Down the road a few yards a green coated girl joined her on the walk. He could see almost through the flakes as the girl faced Gina, and looked past her shoulder toward him. It was only a second before she dismissed their contact, her black hair flipping up behind her from the wind.

She had grown it longer.

He shut the door and slid down on his back till he hit the ground. By the time Joe woke up and came downstairs, an apple hanging from his mouth, the towel around Kurt's neck was dry.

He took the apple from his mouth and sat at one of the stools. "Anyone come by?"

Kurt didn't look at Joe when he said, "Gina."

"Huh," he began between bites. "How was she?"

"Her hair was longer."

Joe's brow crinkled, but Kurt didn't say anything else. He could not remember uttering more than a few hundred words to his own brother every year.

Even admits a silence he had endowed without speaking, words then did not seem important enough to make a difference.

**(^.^)**

"How long?"

Blue was silent as Ellen wrung her hands in a small pattern. Her brown eyes were lividly downcast as Hank remained stoic beside her. Blue did not care enough to wonder why neither would look at him. His eyes cornered Ellen, and he did not allow himself to think it was out of spite. Because he did not care.

_In_

_Out_

_In_

_Out_

"Just over an hour."

Hank stared at him, long and hard with his frown deep and crow-stamped eyes heavily set. Blue did not look up from the floor, his gaze refusing to leave the sight of Ellen's nervous habit. He knew then, with a certain habitual assumption setting in his gut like a snake, he _knew_ the question would be asked.

"Were you watching her?" Blue met Hank's cold eyes, the starkness of an opposite, cheery past assaulting him without fail. His own eyes skittered to the floor again, and he turned to put on his gloves. "Call off the search parties. I can find her myself."

"I said," Hank broke off loudly. "Were you _watching _her?" Blue's hands froze at the collar of his coat, foot at the edge of the door. He could see without a glance that Ellen had shrunk away, her whispering pleas starkly loud in the quiet of Hank's simmering anger.

Blue's hand fell limply from the cool latch. "Does it even matter?" he said quietly.

Hank expected him to face him, Blue had expected the simple submission himself. But the question remained like a small, desperate request turning the latch and shutting the door against two silent figures in his place. _Does it really matter? _"Dammit!" he cursed, a spray of snow scattering in the wind when he kicked and screamed. "Dammit...dammit." Hank's face reiterated in his mind, locked and grim. Blue clutched his head, willing the thought away.

_Everything is falling apart._

"Blue..."

Blue looked up, his wallowing blue eyes half-expecting to see Ann with the same lopsided grin and messy blonde hair. She would smile at him, arms out just as wide as his were closed in. But Basil stood in front of him, his expression stuck between confusion and concern. He was clutching the hand of a small girl, who had quickly darted behind Basil when she'd noticed Blue. "Are you okay?"

Blue fell to his knees, not sure where the odd and sudden laughter bubbled up, painfully sharp on his cracked lips. "Emile."

"Who?" Basil's brow knitted together into two tight knots as the girl peeked from behind him, brown eyes wide and fearful.

Blue shook his head, a sigh escaping between his unusual display of amusement. He stared into her childlike gaze and smiled a small smile.

"_Emile."_

_

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**Oh, I'm so proud of myself. I finally finished it after months of being stuck. But I think I've got this story half-figured out, which is pretty good for me. At least I have an inkling of a premise. Whee. There aren't many HM stories based in this game. But that's the only one I really know well...plus I just thought I could pull some interesting things with the characters' personalities. Yes, brought in an OC. Terrible. But she ties it together...Hope someone liked it. Reviews are always nice. I don't DEMAND them like a little demon writer. I'd write regardless, but it gives me a crooked smile. :D It started out as a one-shot for Basil, but I twisted it and then came the story. That's why it's like SNAP–change! in the beginning. Alright. Done rambling. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews Narutogirl101 and Pixebby! It fueled me to write this chapter! Which, I'm not going to lie, if you don't like reading the rise and fall of relationships with a heavy melancholy underlying, this isn't the story for you. It's _all_ about relationships and feelings. yada, yada, and all that. I just wanted to write something that dealt with people rather than something plot-fueled for practice. Writing with HM characters lets me bend them a little bit and exaggerate on their vague backstories without me ruining their original makeup.

If you're still here, hope you enjoy it.

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Chapter Two

Tiptoe Over a Promise

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Eve had her wrist folded over the thin edge of a fragile wine glass when he swam in front of her bored expression, tan face relaxed into his trademark lazy smile. It was no surprise, really. Dan made an appearance at the Moonlight Cafe nearly everyday, anyone in this town did, the drinks drawing anyone in with enough bank and thirst to supply them for the night. If they were too drunk to make it home, they ordered a room, the building freshly modified ever since they'd hit a boom in business. Duke's system was flawless.

But Dan never fell in tune with the dominos neatly placed for any fool who walked through that door. It was the sparingly dressed girls he managed to find that routinely purchased the drinks and room. No tip tonight, Eve grimly thought when she saw a girl clad in heels and a short leather skirt trip in giggling, her arm swung around Dan's shoulder. He eased her into the stool directly across from Eve. "Oh _Dan_," she nearly yelled, attracting the attention of her quiet neighbor, Blue. Eve tried to corner his eyes, but he'd already looked down at the bar top. "You're so _funny_."

Dan laughed a smooth little chuckle. Eve watched him sourly while she cleaned glasses as he maneuvered himself to sit in the stool beside the loud girl. Their eyes clashed, and despite all that came to her tongue to spit in his face, maybe even to humiliate him in front of that little girl, Eve looked away first. And she cursed herself for it. "Two of the usual, Duke," Eve heard Dan request with her back turned.

"Eve," Duke suddenly said. Eve looked up from the wine glasses she'd been placing in storage. "Man the bar for me a bit, would you? Have a situation in back."

Discrete refusal instantly came to mind until she noticed the made-up little girl watching her with a cold look in her eye. Eve recognized that glance. The showy loud mouth was sizing her up! "Sure. No problem," she answered without a second's hesitation in her tone. Duke nodded and disappeared in back.

"Alright." Eve turned with a wide smile to the girl in front of her, noting the surprise on her face with distinctive clarity. "The usual, you said? Coming right up." But when she finally served them both their drinks, the girl stared at the beverage with wide, watery eyes. Eve tried not to smile. "Is there a problem? You look a little pale." She slipped the drink nonchalantly under her pert, tiny nose. "You picked a good one. The smell alone will knock the sick right outta'you."

That did it. The girl slapped two hands over her mouth and dashed toward the bathroom, tripping as she went. Eve turned back to her wineglass placement duty, acutely aware that Dan's amused purple eyes followed her every move. "You sure do know how to pick them," she muttered before he could pin her down.

"If I remember correctly, you always knew how to scare them away." When Eve finally stopped her hands and looked at Dan, he had his elbow on the bar top, head placed against palm as he stared up at her with that same small smile on his lips.

"Elbows off the counter," she said curtly, even though Blue was mimicking Dan's posture, head dug into a farmer's manual. Dan held up his hands in surrender and lowered them into his lap.

"I won't press it, Eve. I'm not the type to care so much." There was cut to his tone. Eve wiped the glass again and again, determined not to listen. He had the same, _"but…" _he always put at the edge of his voice. _"If you want to say it first…" _Dan had never faced anything directly. It wasn't in his nature.

Eve stood straight, setting the glass upside down in its hung place. She could hear the toilet flushing from where she was.

"You better go to your girlfriend. There's a difference between me and her, Dan." Eve tightened the apron around her waist and looked directly into his face. "She needs you."

"Ouch." Dan's smile didn't yield to Eve's scalding words as she brushed past him, setting drinks in front of separate customers with an expertise ease that he knew she'd honed through long nights and long hours. He'd been there once. "Alright, alright," he said as she was behind the bar, again facing with her back to him. His low-lidded eyes traced her slim figure slowly, and then Dan finally found something to frown about. "You've lost weight again."

"Stress," she shot off calmly, as if the comment had bounced off her coffee-stained apron. "Which," she whisked away his glass between her pinkie and set down a fresh one in its place, "at the moment seems intent on nagging me."

Dan sipped at his glass with a sly grin. "Full of love as always, huh?"

Eve wiped her hands against her apron, pretty red lips poised for a retort when a distinct, loud retching interrupted the two of them. She turned away from him again without a word.

The girl eventually came around front, hand on her forehead with her eyes weary and smudged as Dan held her up carefully. He had not provided anything else to rile Eve up, but the swiftness of his departure without a said goodbye nearly bothered Eve. And why should it? Eve busied herself with the rapid late-night orders, determined not to look at them once as they left.

He had to say it.

"Happy birthday, Eve."

Like a pathetic fool her attention was instantly drawn to look over her shoulder. She knew her curly blonde hair had begun to go wild and curl at her ears and around her face, and her apron was spotted with the array of their menu's choicest bits. And yet that was Dan. He always managed to steal the last word. Even if it was a lie.

"_I need you."_

Always.

**(^.^)**

"Any luck?" Joe had stood up so fast when his brother had appeared—snowflakes stuck to his hair and face set into the normal passive frown—that his stool had toppled over with a loud clang.

He busied himself with setting it straight, Kurt's expressionless, "Found her," half-way up the steps before he could trail after him. Kurt was facing with his back turned toward him when he made it up the stairs. His thoughts halted as he stared at his silent brother. He had something in his hand, Joe leaned for a look, but Kurt stuffed it into his pocket before he could manage to make it out.

Kurt's two thin eyebrows lifted tonelessly in question at Joe. "Uh, well." He scratched the back of his head, unsure of why he had exactly followed after his brother. They usually never bothered with each other, words less infrequent ever since he'd come back from the city after a year's absence. "That's good to hear," he tried half-heartedly, a weak chuckle on the edge of his tongue. "Haven't really met her myself yet. But that's good that they found her."

Kurt just, "hmmed," in reply, turning away again as if to dismiss the conversation. Joe was not sure what possessed him to suddenly blurt, "Did you see Dia?" But by the sudden flash in Kurt's solemn dark eyes, it had not been the right choice. "Uh, no! What I meant was-" he groaned into his palms quietly.

"Katie's downstairs," Kurt cut in. Joe looked up to see Kurt watching him without expression, without the surprise in his black eyes. He pulled at the scarf around his neck absently. "Waiting for you, I guess."

Kurt turned away again toward the phone, staring at it silently. Joe stepped forward, a hesitant apology on his lips, when he heard a soft knock. Three exact punctures against the wood stung in his heart so familiar. Her arrival was not a lie. "Thanks," he said, toes at the foot of the stairs.

Katie's back was to him when he opened the door. He'd opened it quietly, not quite convinced she would be there. But she was, her same red and black-laced dress hitting just above her ankles. He tried to see her face, but she was twirling an umbrella between her grip, sealing away two blue eyes and a wide smile that he could never match. The snow crunched loudly under foot as he stepped toward her. Then she turned.

"Katie," he said quietly, disbelief softening his face as he stared into her eyes. Her radiant smile grew at the sight of him, but she suddenly shrunk back with a snap when he tried to touch her. She shook her head over and over, staring at him with raw fear. "What's wrong?" He again attempted to touch her, to just let the hurt in her azure eyes disappear.

She stepped back again, slapping his hands away with such odd ferocity for such a small woman. "I'm engaged!" she screamed.

**(^.^)**

"You're only encouraging her," Blue said, watching Basil continuously fail to try and convince Emile to open her mouth and speak. She sat in the kitchen chair with her thin arms curled awkwardly over her green winter coat, a small frown painting her lips into a solid pout. Hank and Ellen had already attempted to have their parental ways with the girl, but it had consistently led to a silent dead end. Yet Basil would not yield.

He grinned a sure grin, motioning to himself. "My name's Basil. I work with plants. You like the forest, don't you?"

Emile watched him without a word, but Blue noticed that her green eyes had lifted to Basil's face. She shifted in her seat, dropping her arms to point at her backpack on the floor by his foot. Basil looked at it, then grabbed it and hoisted it into his lap by the strap. She snatched it from his grasp, shooting him a pointed glare. "Sorry…"

She pulled out a sketchbook, flipping through pages of neatly placed writing. She pulled out a pen from her coat pocket and began to write. Blue and Basil stood by, confusion fueling their curiosity as she continued to write furiously. When she finally held up the sketchbook for them to read, Blue smiled.

_Yes. But I don't like you._

Basil's smile fell flat. He forced a weak grin. "But you like flowers? You can come to me anytime when you want to visit the forest. You don't have to be by yourself."

Emile stared at him blankly as Basil held tight to his smile. She picked up her pen again.

_I don't believe you. All adults are liars._

Emile started to slid her sketchbook into her bag, and tucked the pen between the back of her ear. "That's true," he said quietly. Emile stopped, watching him in confusion as he held her small hands in his. "But you lied too. You told Uncle Hank that you were going to town with a friend."

Emile's eyes danced in shame on the floor. She shrugged and rolled her eyes, pulling out her sketchbook again. Basil put his hand on top of hers.

She wrestled away his grip and pushed her pen onto the clean pages again. Her green eyes sparked dangerously over the top edge of the book as both Blue and Basil read her unspoken words.

_You're different from Blue. You talk too much. _

_Stupid. _

She hopped off of the stool and tried to make her proud little walk out the door when she instead paraded directly into the embracing arms of Ann. "Emile!" she yelled happily, grounding Emile's none-too-happy face into her stomach. "You've gotten so big! Twelve this spring, huh?"

Emile nodded a solemn yes, and struggled politely out of Ann's tight hug. Basil wearily stared at Emile. "Twelve? Her birthday, you mean?"

Uh oh, Blue amusedly thought when he saw Emile lock her arms over her chest, attempting to appear tall even though she barely stood four foot. Ann smiled at Basil, a blonde brow quirked. "Yeah." She ruffled Emile's head, much to her obvious displeasure. "All grown up! I can show you how to reassemble an engine now without Hank yelling at me."

"I thought you were…six, seven or eight at most."

The room became chilled from an abrupt silence. Basil, oblivious to what he'd caused, looked around at the three of them. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ann jumped in quickly.

"The Winter Festival is tonight. Aren't you ready for that?" Ann laughed when Emile rolled her eyes again, sketchbook clutched firmly in hand. Blue watched, noticing she had not used it with Ann hovering above. Even last summer, she'd withheld her cold comments in Ann's presence. Maybe with Ann here, Basil's brutal naiveté could be stunted from effecting Emile's fickle mood. Maybe, he reiterated solemnly, watching Basil as he parted his lips again, brow furrowed in contemplation.

"Aren't you a little young to be thinking about that kind of thing?"

Emile's green eyes flickered for a second, and her mouth puckered meanly into an ugly frown. Ann grabbed her hands, stepping in front of her so she couldn't see Basil. "Emile. We can paint your nails and do your hair. Well," Ann paused, smiling slightly, "not me, but I'm sure Katie wouldn't mind."

Emile's gaze darted above her head up at Basil. She glared quickly before pulling her hands away from Ann's. She sighed, hands on hips, before nodding her agreement. "Great!" Ann clapped her hands together, relieved that a crisis had been avoided. Blue shook his head and pulled his hat down when Ann caught the act of him laughing at the three of them.

She laughed loudly, Emile holding up a '_?'_ with her sketchbook while Basil reflected her confusion.

The sudden creak of a step silenced their laughter. "Blue." Hank was at the stairs, face motionless as he swept in the cheery scene. "Emile's home now, safe. You can get back in the field."

Blue refused the direct order and remained where he stood behind the counter, hat drawn over his eyes. He looked up at Hank, his gaze lingering over Emile's small face and skittering over Ann's obvious concern. Not here, he told himself. He couldn't fight now, not with them so near.

"Alright," he consented, pushing himself up and grabbing his tool belt from the counter. Hank stared at him long after that, watching without a word as Blue prepared himself. Then he left, the click of the door the only sound of a lonely departure.

"Blue," Ann's tiny hands pulled at his gloved ones, the ones she had given him earlier that day when he walked past them. Blue stopped with his eyes downcast.

"Not now," he refused quietly, but squeezed her hand. She slipped from his touch and tugged at his jacket before he could step out.

"But you are coming to the festival tonight?"

Ann's hand fell from his sleeve when he nodded. Ann smiled up at him and held up a curled pinky. Blue watched the gesture silently, almost wishing he did not recognize the childhood tradition. She grabbed his wrist. "Come on, you have to promise." Blue's gaze sank underneath his visor when he noticed Emile trying not to giggle and Basil hiding a smile beneath his hand. But he held up his pinky anyway and locked it with Ann's.

"Promise."

* * *

**A/N: **Hmm. I wrote this a _long _time ago actually. I felt like it wasn't completely finished as a chapter and that I shouldn't update without having another chapter done, but I predicted I would never end up updating this if I never posted chapter two, so I decided to do it. It's short. I probably should've made it longer, but I didn't know how to do it without leading into the festival, and that would've made for some awkward transition that I didn't want, so I posted it.

Reviews are always welcome. ^_^


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